The Nerazzurri prevailed 1-0 in exciting Derby Della Madonnina and the 67-year-old believes his young trainer has all the hallmarks to emulate the current Real Madrid boss, who enjoyed a successful spell at San Siro between 2008 and 2010.

“I chose Stramaccioni for his technical abilities, but also his intelligence. In my view the thing that makes him most similar to Mourinho is his dedication to work. Like Mou, Stramaccioni is also a great coach," he told reporters after the match.

“The defence did very well and the credit goes to the coach for making the right decisions."

The Nerazzurri were forced to play almost the entire second half a man down less after Yuto Nagatomo received his marching orders for a second bookable offence.

And the manner with which they staved off wave after wave of attacks by the Rossoneri brought back memories for Moratti of Inter's defeat of Barcelona in the semi-finals of the 2010 Champions League.

“It reminded me of that epic battle in Barcelona on the way to the Champions League, as we also fought on with 10 men that day," he continued.

“I approached this game with a lot of confidence. I was even confident after we went down to 10 men."

The 18-time Italian champions now sit in third place in the Serie A, though their president continues to down play their title hopes.

“This season our objective was to tighten our belts and put trust in youth. Doing this, I think we can still have a good campaign and anything is possible,” continued Moratti.

"Clearly, we want to win, but, we also want to develop our team as we have a lot of younger players."